Electrical rotating-field drives are known. A variety of modulation modes, as indicated in German Published Patent Application No. 10 2008 042 352, are used therein, for example sine-wave modulation, or block modulation or block commutation.
So-called start-stop systems are also known. These serve to stop and restart internal combustion engines, for example when stopped at a traffic light. Start-stop systems of this kind are used in order to reduce the fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of the respective vehicle. Start-stop systems based on a conventional starter exist, the starter being activated by an electronic control device and engaging by way of a pinion into the ring gear on the flywheel. Also known are starter generators having a belt drive, which operate on the basis of a claw pole generator having an additional electronic control device.
Systems having higher power outputs are necessary in order to allow higher energies to be recovered when the vehicle is braking. Clock-timed methods, which require a link circuit having a high-capacitance link circuit capacitor, are used in order to limit the currents. The dimensioning of the link circuit is often crucial in terms of the space requirement of the power electronics.